These events mark some of Big Green athletes' last attempt to qualify for NCAA regionals.
"It was a more competitive meet than last year," Abbey D'Agostino '14 said. "This meet isn't really about team placement. The reason a lot of people ran was to get a qualifying time for the regional meet. We went in with a specific goal and that was getting people qualified."
On Saturday in Waltham, Mass., the three competing Dartmouth men brought their best. Steve Mangan '14 and Silas Talbot '15 dominated the 1500-meter race. Mangan raced to victory with a time of 3:46.32 and Talbot finished in fourth, just a second and a half behind his teammate.
"I think I have a little better than a 50-50 shot to get to regionals," Mangan said. "I'll be pretty close. Unfortunately for Silas, the times were all pretty close together so that hurts his chances."
Tim Gorman '16 was the only other member of the men's team to run in Waltham, and he took fourth in the 5000-meter race with a time of 14:46.55.
At Princeton, Connor Reilly '13 had the best men's performance of the weekend. The senior advanced to the finals on Sunday in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.77, which was good enough for sixth overall. In the finals on Sunday, Reilly ran a 10.60 for second place.
In the field events, Thomas Servino '15 had the best showing, registering a sixth-place finish in the hammer throw. His best toss measured 57.39 meters. Jacob Neumann '15 took 34th in the discus with a distance of 44.21 meters and Josh Cyphers '14 finished in 10th in the pole vault by clearing 4.80 meters.
On Sunday, Dom Filiano '14 finished 17th in the shot put with a throw of 16.02 meters, while Jim Budzinski '14 earned 24th in the javelin with his 54.08 meter throw.
Mangan said the performances highlighted the team's strength.
"It shows that, particularly with our younger runners, that they're motivated to run great times late in the season," he said. "There's usually a letdown after Heps, but we had a couple of freshmen who PR'ed this weekend. People who run this well late in the season are a good sign for the future."
The women saw even more success in their meets this weekend. In the Twilight Meet, D'Agostino and Dana Giordano '16 dominated the track, running to first and second place finishes, respectively. D'Agostino raced the 800-meter for the first time in her Dartmouth career. The junior typically runs longer distances and is the defending Ivy League champion in the 1500-meter and 3000-meter, as well as national champion in the 5000-meter. D'Agostino did not let that stop her, as she ran the fourth-fastest time in school history and cruised to victory with a time of 2:08.11.
"It's a fun event," she said. "Because it's so much shorter than I'm accustomed to, you just leave it all out there. It's definitely a race where you can afford to be really gutsy."
D'Agostino was not racing to qualify for regionals, and ran the 800-meter as part of her speed training.
"I usually do the 1500 as speed training, but since I also ran that as a rabbit, or someone who paces the field, we considered it to be part of my workout for the week," she said. "I hadn't run it since high school except as part of a relay."
In the pouring rain, Giordano finished in second in her 1500-meter race with a time of 4:28.25 and finds out whether she qualified for regionals on Wednesday.
"I don't think the weather had that much of an impact," she said. "It rained the hardest during my race. If I am lucky enough to qualify for regionals, it would be really cool to go to the meet."
At ECACs, Dartmouth's freshman 4x100-meter relay team took center stage. Toni Aguiar '16, Sara Kikut '16, Anna Kikut '16 and Jennifer Meech '16 finished 13th, but broke their own school record in the process. The girls recorded the first sub-47 second time in school history with a 46.93.
"I think it's very impressive that they're all freshmen and, knowing that they have three more years ahead of them, they'll probably break that record again and again," Giordano said.
Megan Krumpoch '14 took 12th in the 400-meter with a time of 55.61.
On the field side, the Dartmouth women got a strong showing from Mollie Gribbin '16 in the long jump and Cathy Liebowitz '15 in the hammer throw. The freshman finished ninth with a distance of 5.68 meters and the sophomore earned 14th with a throw of 50.88 meters.
On Sunday in the field, Kaitlin Whitehorn '16 tied for seventh in the high jump clearing 1.71 meters. In the shot put, Emmaline Berg '13 placed 10th after a 13.78 meter throw. Gribbin jumped 11.72 meters in the triple jump, which was good enough for 14th.
The men and women now focus on next week's final Twilight Meet at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in an attempt to get more athletes qualified for regionals, which will be held from May 23 to 25 in Greensboro, N.C.
